While performing a through trip preflight; a dhc-8 first officer discovered the #4 tire had sustaine...

Narrative:

The event was discovered at the end of the flight. Upon deplaning and preparing for our next departure; the first officer discovered that the #4 tire was blown and suffered a sidewall gash and a moderate degree of scuffing. The tire bead had been pressed over the rim on the inboard side. We are not certain where the tire had blown; as the aircraft handled normally in taxi; on both taxi out and taxi in. The first officer was the flying pilot and reported no difficulties on takeoff roll or landing. Upon discussing the issue with the crew after arrival; I believe we may have departed with possible tire damage. The first officer mentioned a concrete patch on taxiway a. Within a second or two the aircraft felt as though we rolled over uneven pavement; or had rolled over a pavement joint in the taxiway. Upon relaying this to the flight attendant; she confirmed that she noticed the same thing but didn't think anything of it.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While performing a through trip preflight; a DHC-8 First Officer discovered the #4 tire had sustained damage and deflated at some point during the previous flight.

Narrative: The event was discovered at the end of the flight. Upon deplaning and preparing for our next departure; the First Officer discovered that the #4 tire was blown and suffered a sidewall gash and a moderate degree of scuffing. The tire bead had been pressed over the rim on the inboard side. We are not certain where the tire had blown; as the aircraft handled normally in taxi; on both taxi out and taxi in. The First Officer was the flying pilot and reported no difficulties on takeoff roll or landing. Upon discussing the issue with the crew after arrival; I believe we may have departed with possible tire damage. The first Officer mentioned a concrete patch on Taxiway A. Within a second or two the aircraft felt as though we rolled over uneven pavement; or had rolled over a pavement joint in the taxiway. Upon relaying this to the Flight Attendant; she confirmed that she noticed the same thing but didn't think anything of it.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	840331
Time
Date	200906
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Dash 8-100
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Main Gear Tire
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

While performing a through trip preflight; a dhc-8 first officer discovered the #4 tire had sustained damage and deflated at some point during the previous flight.